Everyone can relate to the toil it takes to nurture your precious indoor plants. It takes even more energy if you are one of those maintaining a nice visually appealing garden around your house.
The worst thing is to notice your plants ravaged by pesky grasshoppers who invade your property. It can turn even more distressing if they progress into making an entry right into your house.
Although it is next to impossible to try and catch these swift hoppers, several effective tried and tested methods can be used to get rid of these pesky grasshoppers from your house.
Grasshoppers can be a news of devastation for your plants and garden. They are herbivores that live off of eating plants consisting of flowers, stems, leaves, and even seeds.
Catching these pesky insects may seem impossible as you witness their swift movements full of big leaps, but there are several ways to keep them out of your house.
This article will navigate you through the most effective ways to keep grasshoppers off your property.
- Using shiny objects like aluminum foil, reflective tapes are known to irk their visual senses and help to keep them off areas.
- Using instruments that emit high-frequency sounds also deters them from an area.
- Grasshoppers avoid slippery surfaces as they make it difficult to move on them. They avoid spiky areas since it could damage their antennae and legs.
- You can use natural repellents like neem oil and garlic sprays to deter them. Many chemicals are available that effectively eliminate grasshoppers, but usage should be handled with extreme caution.
- You can adopt methods to ensure their population within your area stays under control by trimming your grass, tilling the soil ahead of their breeding season, and introducing predators that feed on grasshoppers.
If you are troubled by the sudden invasion of grasshoppers in your house destroying your plants and vegetation, or you live in a place with dry, hot weather where high chances of encountering grasshopper issues are inevitable, this article is a must-read for you.
This article will teach you how to effectively keep grasshoppers away from your property.
Understanding Grasshoppers’ Behaviour
It is quite important to have a basic understanding of grasshoppers’ behavior to effectively manage their population and control their intrusion from unwanted spaces.
Grasshoppers are insects that are famously known for their jumping ability and are found in various habitats worldwide.
The following are three dominant factors that influence their behavior:
- Food availability
- Temperature
- Light
Grasshoppers are herbivores and feed on plants’ leaves, flowers, and seeds. They are diurnal and stay active throughout the day and are known to get even more active in warmer temperatures.
Grasshoppers can leap as long as 30 inches in one jump. That’s 20 times their body length. That being compared, we could cover an entire football field in a leap if we could jump that many times our body length.
They use their jumping ability to move around and conveniently escape predators.
They have a complex mating behavior that relies on attracting mates using visual and auditory cues. In some species of grasshoppers, males have colors on their wings, which helps attract females.
There are about 11,000 species of grasshoppers around the world.
5 Ways To Keep Grasshoppers Away
There are several ways to keep the notorious grasshopper away from your house.
Say goodbye to pesky grasshoppers from entering your property with these proven methods:
1. Repel by Sight
Grasshoppers have great vision, unlike humans, allowing them to detect motion with great precision.
They also have a special ability to see in all directions at once.
Grasshoppers have five eyes. Out of five, two are compound eyes with many lenses, whereas the remaining three are small and present to detect light and dark.
A few sights do not sit well visually with grasshoppers’ interest, and sighting them makes them hop out of space in no time.
Grasshoppers are known to be repelled by reflective tape or anything shiny such as aluminum foil.
In certain instances, grasshoppers have shown a dislike for helium-filled floating foil balloons.
2. Repel by Sound
High-frequency sounds repel grasshoppers.
You can use devices that emit high-frequency sounds to keep grasshoppers out.
3. Repel by Touch
Grasshoppers have a comprehensive system through which they sense touch. It is located in various parts of its body, including antennae and palps on its head, cerci on the stomach area, and receptors on its legs.
Grasshoppers are known to avoid certain textures that they feel may harm them. For instance, grasshoppers avoid slimy/slippery textured surfaces as they can make it difficult to maintain their footing.
Grasshoppers also avoid rough or spiky textures as they can damage their antennae or legs.
Grasshoppers have spikes on the back of their hind legs. If you catch a grasshopper with your bare hands, you risk getting these spikes to poke your skin, causing irritation or minor injuries.
4. Repel by Smell
Grasshoppers have antennas that sense smell.
With the following, you can repel grasshoppers with their sense of smell.
Natural Repellents
They use their sense of smell to seek out areas for shelter and food.
There are many scents that grasshoppers don’t like because it simply masks the smell of food and shelter they are aiming for.
Some of the most potent aromas that deter grasshoppers are listed below:
Neem Oil
Naeem oil is widely known as a natural insecticide and repellent for grasshoppers.
It is most potent for deterring grasshoppers, especially against young grasshoppers and eggs.
Garlic Spray
Garlic is another effective way to keep grasshoppers off your plants.
You can easily make a spray form by using several garlic cloves, blending it with water, and straining the mixture.
Transfer the liquid into the spray bottle, and add a few drops of dish soap as it helps the solution stick to the leaves.
Spray around leaves and areas around the plant to create a barrier against grasshoppers.
Be sure to reapply the solution if it is washed away by rain or several days have passed.
Keeping certain herbs and flowers around the house, such as chrysanthemums and marigolds, will effectively ward off grasshoppers as it is a natural repellent against them.
Diatomaceous Earth
Diatomaceous earth is one tried and tested method by yours truly, and therefore, I can personally recommend it.
Sprinkle food-grade Diatomaceous earth over your plants and around the soil to eliminate grasshoppers.
Be sure to avoid dropping it on flowers as it will disrupt the natural ecosystem, as bees and birds will not come close to it.
Many other scents, including rosemary, peppermint oil, thyme basil, cayenne pepper, onion, clove, and cilantro, have shown potency against grasshoppers.
These can be placed as companion plants around the garden area to ensure grasshoppers stay away from those plants they stand to hurt and damage.
Chemical Repellents
Many chemical insecticides target grasshoppers. Insecticides that contain pyrethrins or carbaryl are quite potent in eliminating grasshoppers.
Always read the instructions and safety precautions on the label before using the chemicals.
It is always advised to take recommendations from a professional before handling chemicals. Unsafe level usage can cause toxicity that can harm the people involved.
5. Biological Control
There are several ways to keep their population under control in your area.
Predators
Introduce predators or parasites that feed on grasshoppers to keep their population low.
Tilling the Soil
Protect your soil from becoming a breeding ground for grasshoppers by tilling it.
Grasshoppers typically breed during September and October as it favors them with hot and dry weather. They don’t lay their eggs for the season into your soil in those months.
Tilled soil gives them a sign that the eggs won’t stay safe hence they avoid areas where the earth is disrupted.
Keep Grass Trimmed
Patches of long grass or unmowed areas can become their preferred habitat as they thrive living in the long grass.
Keeping your grass trimmed will deter them from living in your garden spaces.
Conclusion
Grasshoppers are fascinating insects to look at and observe, but that intrigue might not sustain when they intrude on your house and damage your plants.
As discussed in the article, there are many ways to ensure grasshoppers stop creating a nuisance in your home garden by damaging your coveted plants. You can use a combination of the above methods that you find easy to follow.
Chemical insecticides can be harmful to the environment, including the insects and animals that are beneficial.
It is recommended to adopt a more sustainable approach to control grasshoppers by using physical barriers, natural repellents, and biological controls.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do Grasshoppers Have a Defense Mechanism?
Yes, they spit acid. Grasshoppers use a unique defense mechanism when they feel threatened by spitting out a brown liquid substance. This spit is acidic and smelly and can leave stains that resemble tobacco spit.
This unpleasant smell and taste of this spit-out are enough to ward off predators.
How Long Do Grasshoppers Live?
Their life spans around 12 months. Half of the grasshoppers don’t get to live out to complete their lifetime because of predators like snakes, lizards, and birds.
